Distraction
by assassinactual
Summary: "Could you stop that, Berry?  It's super distracting," Quinn hissed.  Set in the airport in New York after their loss at Nationals.


They were in the airport, waiting for their flight home from New York. But between Schuester's insistence that they arrive early to clear security on time and the storm raging outside, it looked like it would several hours until they cold board the plane back to Ohio.

Mr. Schuester had disappeared almost immediately after they found the correct gate, and Tina had dragged Mercedes and Kurt away not long after. The rest of the boys, and Lauren, had gone a mission to attempt to purchase duty-free alcohol.

Quinn was sitting in one of the uncomfortable plastic seats reading a dog-eared Discworld novel. Santana and Brittany were a couple seats down from her, huddled together and whispering to each other. Rachel was seated in the row across from them, with her headphones in her ears and her face hidden behind her large sunglasses. She had been silent since they had left the hotel.

Brittany whispered something in Santana's ear that caused her to sit up straighter and take look around. She shot a glance at Rachel before leaning over and tapping Quinn on the shoulder.

"Q," she said quietly, "me and Britt are gonna go grab some food. Could you watch our stuff?"

"Yeah, sure," Quinn said without looking up from her book.

"You might want to keep an eye on Berry, too. Make sure no one kidnaps her." Quinn looked up at Rachel, then turned to Santana and raised an eyebrow. "Seriously, she's like pedo bait in that outfit."

Quinn sighed and shook her head. Once she was sure her friends had left, she peeked at Rachel over the top of her book. She was wearing her multicoloured striped coat, this time with skin tight jeans. Her white hat had slipped off her head and into her lap. Although Quinn couldn't see her eyes, the steady rhythm of her breathing indicated she was asleep.

Quinn went back to reading her book, but was disturbed by a rustling sound a few minutes later. Rachel was shifting in her seat, pulling her coat tighter around herself and bringing her legs up onto the chair. Quinn glared at the other girl, not sure if she could see it, then went back to her book.

Quinn was disturbed again when Rachel moved from leaning on her right side to her left. She had just found her place on the page when Rachel brought one of her legs up so it was almost tucked against her chest and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Could you stop that, Berry? It's super distracting," Quinn hissed.

"Wha?" Quinn's irritation vanished when she heard Rachel's sleepy voice. She allowed herself to smile at how adorably confused Rachel looked. "'M cold."

Quinn eyed her orange coat draped over the seat beside her. She picked up the coat and crossed over to Rachel's seat. Quinn wrapped the coat around Rachel, making sure to tuck it in at the sides. "Quinn?"

Quinn was close enough that she could see Rachel's eyes looking up at her through the sunglasses.

"Y-you kept fidgeting. I couldn't concentrate."

"Thanks," Rachel said. She smiled at Quinn, then drooped her head down and went to sleep. Without really thinking about what she was doing, Quinn dropped into the seat beside her and opened her book.

Quinn had read twelve pages of her book by the time Rachel's head dropped onto her shoulder. She froze for a moment, and found her breathing and heart rate quickening, and her mouth becoming dry. She focused on her book again, only to re-read the same line twenty-nine times.

A loud bang startled them. Rachel shot upright, trying to regain her bearings. Quinn quickly located the source of the noise: a man had dropped his overstuffed suitcase not far from them. Quinn placed a hand on Rachel's shoulder and gently pushed her back into the seat.

"It's okay, Rachel. Just a guy dropping his luggage. Go back to sleep."

Rachel settled down in the seat and pulled Quinn's coat back up around herself.

"'Kay."

When Santana and Brittany returned half an hour later, Rachel was still sleeping on her shoulder. She expected to be teased relentlessly for that, but she wasn't about to wake Rachel up.

Upon spotting them, Santana just smirked and whispered something to Brittany which caused them both to giggle. Santana separated from Brittany. She walked over to Quinn and kneeled in front of her.

"Schue texted everyone," she said quietly. "He got us bumped to a different flight. So you better wake up your cuddle buddy if you don't want everyone to see you like this."

"San..." Quinn said pleadingly.

Santana looked over at Brittany, who was digging through her bag with her back to the two of them, then back to Quinn.

"Relax, Fabgay. I'm not telling anybody about whatever you've got going on with her."

"We're not – " Santana cut Quinn off with a shake of her head.

"Later, okay?" When Quinn nodded to her, she got to go help Brittany.

Quinn took a moment to observe the relaxed, content expression on Rachel's face before gently patting her arm.

"Rachel, wake up." Rachel sat up and looked around. Quinn giggled when she ran a hand through her hair, only messing it up more. "Mr. Schue got us a different flight. We're going to leave soon."

Rachel nodded. She pulled her headphones out and began searching for her hat.

The sound of Mercedes' voice nearby caused Rachel to jump out of her seat and hand Quinn her coat.

"Thank you," Rachel whispered.

Quinn's cheeks turned slightly pink and she was unable to look Rachel in the eye when she muttered "You're welcome."

While Quinn was checking that she had everything she needed in her bag, she felt someone watching her. She turned around and caught Rachel trying to pretend that she hadn't just been looking at Quinn. Rachel knew she had been caught, so she sent Quinn a shy smile and a little wave, which Quinn returned.

Quinn knew she was grinning like an idiot, but she didn't care, even when Santana looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smirk.


End file.
